Barrie Marshall MBE & Sir Paul McCartney Celebrate A Four-Decade Partnership (2025 Impact Intl. UK/Euro Cover Honoree)

BARRIE MARSHALL
Founder & Chairman
Marshall Arts Ltd.

35+YEARS OF TOURING WITH PAUL MCCARTNEY – AND HOW IT CHANGED HIS LIFE

To say Barrie Marshall MBE and Sir Paul McCartney, featured together on the cover of Pollstar’s 2025 Impact International: UK/Europe Special, share a special relationship would be an understatement. Both 83 years young, their first working engagement dates back to “The Paul McCartney World Tour” in 1989.

Since then, they’ve celebrated many milestones together, including: McCartney playing the only contemporary concert ever staged in Moscow’s Red Square; becoming the first modern artist to perform inside Rome’s Coliseum to 300 people – and outside the following night to more than half a million in 2003; and performing in front of half a million people again nine years later, in Zocalo Square, Mexico City.

“Meeting and working with Paul McCartney changed my life,” said Marshall. “It had a huge impact, teaching me discipline and respect, because he knew exactly what he wanted to do, and I had to stay extremely focused to maintain his standard of excellence. Opening up so many new markets with Paul over 30 years. His concerts are like touring history really, but with music that is so fresh and inspiring and stirring memories for generations, whilst managing to be current.”

McCartney’s latest solo album, McCartney III, debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart on Dec. 25, 2020, marking his first number-one solo album in his home country in 31 years. His fanbase spans generations and continents, which is why there’s no reason to stop touring anytime soon. McCartney is all game. He tells Pollstar, “Barrie and I have worked together since 1989, and over that time he’s been a great business partner and a trusted friend and ally. With Barrie’s collaboration over the last nearly 40 years, we’ve rocked the world together from Zocalo Square to the Pacific Rim and all points in between. And as ‘Got Back’ continues, it looks like we’re going to be at it for a long time to come.”

When Marshall tries to recall what first sparked his love for live music, several moments come to mind. Becoming aware of Elvis for the first time, then of Cliff Richard in the late 1950s, who proved that, in Marshall’s words, “the Brits could do it, too!”

When the Beatles began their world conquest in 1960, when Motown started churning out its culture-defining sound, and a young Barbra Streisand gave her first performances at New York’s Bon Soir nightclub – it all heavily influenced and inspired Marshall.

So much so that he decided to abandon his training as a civil engineer and his ambition to become an architect to pursue a career in music. And while he never designed, shaped or built physical buildings, he’s designed tours, shaped careers, and helped build an industry from scratch.

Which is why last year Marshall was a shoe-in for induction into the Pollstar Live Hall of Fame.

The first show Marshall ever promoted was in 1967 by a legendary Stax/Volt revue led by Otis Redding at London’s Roundhouse. Marshall Arts Limited was incorporated in 1976, setting up shop so close to the iconic London venue that Marshall can see it from his office window. Several artists Marshall Arts began working with in those early days remain on the company’s roster today: Lionel Richie, for one, who came on board in 1978, and celebrated many a career milestone with Marshall, including his acclaimed 2015 Glastonbury performance, where he drew one of the biggest crowds the festival’s ever seen.

More highlights from Marshall’s early years include managing Man, the band, and later, the master guitarist of flamenco, Paco de Lucia.

“Joining him together with John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola for records and concert touring was a joy, and their albums are still available today and selling,” says Marshall, adding that he “enjoyed learning so much” from other iconic managers including Roger Davies, Simon Fuller, and Bruce Eskowitz.

The late Tina Turner and Whitney Houston were two of several trailblazing women on the Marshall Arts roster. Active ones are Annie Lennox, Sade, who’s rumored to return to the road in 2026, and Cher, whose 2003 farewell jaunt famously turned into the highest grossing tour for any woman at the time.

When Marshall wanted to bring The Commodores to Wembley Arena in 1979, he had to convince the building’s GM that his company was trustworthy. When he returned with Stevie Wonder the year after, no questions were asked. Marshall’s last return to Wembley was in 2019, bypassing the arena and heading straight for the stadium, where P!NK sold out two nights as part of her “Beautiful Trauma World Tour.”

That same year, Marshall Arts toured Elton John and Paul McCartney before both treks got disrupted by COVID. Elton John was in the middle of his historic “Farewell Yellow Brick Road,” one of the most ambitious global runs ever conceived and which his team had to reschedule several times. McCartney’s “Freshen Up” tour got cut, including his scheduled Glastonbury appearance for the festival’s 50th anniversary. McCartney made good on this missed opportunity in 2022, pulling out all the stops during a nearly three-hour long set, including guest appearances by Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl.